Famous Tongue Twisters

Table of contents

1 In English 2 In French 3 In Dutch 4 In Spanish 5 In Finnish 6 In German 7 In Hebrew - בעברית 8 In Polish 9 In Swedish

In English

• "Red Leather, Yellow Leather"

• "She sells sea shells by the seashore.
  The shells she sells are surely seashells.
  So if she sells shells on the seashore,
  I'm sure she sells seashore shells."

• "Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear
  Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair
  If Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair
  then Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't very fuzzy, was he?"

• "Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers"

• "Mamma Made Me Mash My M & M's"

• The Leith police dismisseth us

• One smart fellow, he felt smart
  Two smart fellows, they felt smart
  Three smart fellows, They all felt smart.

• He had "had". Had he had "had had", he'd have passed the examination.

• "Betty Botter bought some butter but she said the butter's bitter. If I put it in my batter it will make my batter bitter. So, she bought some better butter, better than the bitter butter and she put it in her batter and her batter was not bitter. So 'twas good that Betty Botter bought some better butter."

• "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
  How many pecks of pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?
  If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
  Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?"

• "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck
  If a woodchuck could chuck wood?
  He would chuck, he would, as much as he could,
  And chuck as much as a woodchuck would
  If a woodchuck could chuck wood."

• "Moses supposes his toeses are roses,
  but Moses supposes erroneously;
  for nobody's toeses are poses of roses,
  as Moses supposes his toeses to be."

• "Theophilus Thistle, the Thistle Sifter,
  Sifted a sieve of unsifted thistles.
  If Theophilus Thistle, the Thistle Sifter,
  Sifted a sieve of unsifted thistles,
  Where is the sieve of un-sifted thistles
  Theophilus Thistle, the Thistle Sifter, sifted?"

• "The sixth sheik's sixth sheep's sick."

• "Amidst the mists and coldest frosts
  With barest wrists and stoutest boasts
  He thrusts his fists against the posts
  And still insists he sees the ghosts."
    (The "S-T-S" consonant combination is very difficult for speakers of many other languages)

• "I'm a sheet-slitter
  I slit sheets
  I'm the slickest little sheet-slitter
  That ever slit sheets."

• "Toy boat, or Troy boat?"

• "If you keep a lot of liquor in your locker
  It is wise to put a lock upon your stock
  Or some fellow who is quicker
  Will trick you of your liquor
  If you fail to lock your liquor with a lock."

• "Red Lolly, yellow lorry"

• "I'm not a pheasant plucker, I'm a pheasant plucker's son
  I'm sitting plucking pheasants till the pheasant plucker comes."

In French

• Les chaussettes de l'archiduchesse sont elles sèches, archi-sèches ?
  • Archduchess' socks are they dry, very dry ?

• Suis-je bien chez ce cher Serge?
  • Am I really at this dear Serge's home ?

• La roue sur la rue roule; la rue sous la roue reste.
  • Wheel rolls on the road, road under the wheel stays.

• Tas de riz, tas de rats. Tas de riz tentant, tas de rats tentés. Tas de riz tentant tenta tas de rats tentés. Tas de rats tentés tâta tas de riz tentant.
  • Rice heap, rats heap. Tempting rice heap, tempted rats heap. Tempting rice heap tempted tempted rats heap. Tempted rats heap tasted tempting rice heap.

• Si mon tonton tond ton tonton, ton tonton est tondu par mon tonton, Si ma tata tâte ta tata, ta tata est tâtée par ma tata.
  • If my uncle shear your uncle, your uncle is sheared by my uncle. If my aunt taste your aunt, your aunt is tasted by my aunt.

• Chez les Papous il y a des Papous papas, des Papous pas papas, des Papous à poux et des Papous pas à poux.
  Donc chez les Papous il y a :
  - des Papous papas à poux
  - des Papous papas pas à poux
  - des Papous pas papas à poux
  - et des Papous pas papas pas à poux.
  Il y a aussi des poux papas et des poux pas papa...
  Ce qui fait donc :
  -des Papous papas à poux papas
  -des Papous papas à poux pas papas
  -des Papoux papas pas à poux papas
  -des Papoux papas pas à poux pas papas
  -des Papoux pas papas à poux papas
  -des Papoux pas papas à poux pas papas
  -des Papoux pas papas pas à poux papas
  -des Papoux pas papas pas à poux pas papas

In Dutch

In Spanish

In Finnish

• Vesihiisi sihisi hississä!
  • The watersprite hissed in the lift!
• ''Kokoo kokko! Koko kokkoko? Koko kokko.
  • Build up the bonfire! The whole bonfire? The whole bonfire.

In German

In Hebrew - בעברית

In Polish

In Swedish